Intermediary Adoptions
Step Parent Adoptions
Grandparent Adoptions
Relative Adoptions
Re-Adoption/Domestication of Foreign Decree of Adoptions
Finalization of Adoptions
DCF Adoptions
Adoption of Children who are not U.S. Citizens
Interstate Adoption/Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC)

If either you reside in Florida or the child you hope to adopt resides in Florida or is expected to be born in Florida, you will need an attorney, known as an Intermediary, to handle the placement and legal processing for you.

While the Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) represents the adoptive parents for purposes of handling the legal adoption of the child, the Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) also has significant responsibility to the child to insure his/her safety and welfare in the placement. For this reason, the Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) will assist adoptive parents in locating a social worker or adoption agency to do a home study on the adoptive parents with background checks and clearances. This study will be filed with the court as evidence of the appropriateness of the home for the child.

The Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) will insure that all required documents are completed and signed by the birth mother and/or birth father prior to the placement. The Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) will also make sure that all documents required by the court are correctly and timely filed so that the adoption can be finalized.

Although the Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) does not legally represent the birth parents, if there is a stated need, or request by a birth parent, for assistance with medical or legal expenses, the Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) will assist with the handling of these expenses.

Once the Adoption is finalized the Intermediary (Adoption Attorney) will assist the adoptive parents in obtaining a new birth certificate for the child.

For information on how to obtain a Social Security number for Children in Adoption Cases, please visit: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0100206040

For information on how to claim your child for tax purposes while the adoption is still pending, please visit the following IRS web site. http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html

To read about Health Insurance Coverage for an adopted child please click here.

Ms. Strowbridge regularly serves as an Intermediary for the placement of children with adoptive parents. You may call and schedule a consultation with her so that she can give you a better idea of what will be required in your specific case.


If, as a family, you have decided that the best interest of your child will be served by the completion of a step-parent adoption, we can assist you with the legal processing.

If your child's non custodial biological parent is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate will be needed to process the step-parent adoption. If he/she is alive and willing to execute consent documents, we will prepare these documents and obtain his/her signature.

Sometimes the identity of the child's non-custodial biological parent is unknown, he/she can't be located, or he/she is objecting to the step-parent adoption. In these cases, it still may be possible to do the step-parent adoption but some additional work will likely be required.

Patricia Strowbridge, P.A. has processed hundreds of step-parent adoptions and can handle even the most complicated family dynamics.


The number of children living with, and being raised by, grandparents has been steadily on the rise in Florida for many years.

There are many financial benefits and significant legal, emotional, and physical stability benefits that can be provided to children if they are adopted by their grandparents. Because grandparent adoptions qualify for the Federal Adoption Tax Credit, http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html and are not ordinarily highly contested proceedings, legal fees and court costs incurred for the grandparent adoption can often be fully recouped when the grandparents' tax return is filed.

Grandparent adoptions can be processed with the consent of the parent(s) or can be processed based upon the financial and emotional abandonment of parental responsibilities by the parents.

Patricia Strowbridge, P.A. can process the grandparent adoption and provide guidance and assistance with benefits that may be available for the child(ren) as a result of the grandparent adoption.


Sometimes the best solution for a child, whose biological parents face unexpected challenges, is a relative adoption. Relative adoptions are far less complicated than third party adoptions and are normally less expensive for the adoptive parents.

When a child is adopted by close relatives in Florida, no background checks or home study will be required unless the child has been in custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families, or there are some immigration issues.

For many families a relative adoption provides the perfect balance of safety and security for the child with peace of mind and comfort for the parents.

Patricia Strowbridge, P.A. can process the relative adoption for you, or, if something less permanent is needed, can handle temporary legal custody arrangements. A consultation with Ms. Strowbridge can help you decide the most appropriate option for your family.


If you have successfully completed an international adoption and returned home to Florida with your child, it may be time to process a US Re-Adoption or Domestication of Foreign Decree of Adoption. In Florida, these terms are synonymous and refer to the legal process of having the U.S. court recognize and grant legal status to your foreign adoption decree.

For some internationally adopted children, this process is required to formally complete their immigration application for citizenship status. For others, it is not required but can provide many desirable benefits, including the issuance of a Florida birth certificate and the opportunity to make any name changes the adoptive parents wish to make.

Re-Adoption or Domestication of Foreign Decree of Adoption is not a terribly complicated or particularly expensive process, but it can be a very important last step that should not be overlooked simply because the child has arrived home. In some cases, the failure to process a Re-Adoption can have disastrous consequences for a child's immigration, especially in the event of a death or divorce.

If you are unsure as to whether or not this process is required for your internationally adopted child, let us schedule you for a consultation with Mrs. Strowbridge so she can provide you with the guidance you need.


In Florida, children are typically rendered free for adoption, and then adopted in a single case, but this is not always the case for children born overseas or in other states. There are many times when Florida adoptive parents are told by their agency in another state or country that they will need to have a Florida Attorney to finalize their adoption once the parental rights have been terminated elsewhere.

These cases can have complex interjurisdictional issues and it is wise for the Florida adoptive parents to have competent legal counsel to insure a smooth finalization of their adoption.

Ms. Strowbridge has handled more than a hundred interjuridictional finalizations of adoption cases and can expertly guide you through this final stage of processing your adoption of your child, so that no "loose ends" remain.


When the Florida Department of Children and Families has been, or is, involved in legal issues involving a child, it can be extremely complicated, and there is often more "misinformation" than reliable advice out there.

Because the DCF system is a challenging maze of statutes, regulations and internal policies, adoptive parents can easily become frustrated and overwhelmed. Although it may be tempting to "try to do it yourself," this can quickly lead to disaster if you encounter even the slightest problems with the planned agenda.

Patricia Strowbridge, P.A.'s sophisticated understanding of the process, motivations, constraints and priorities within the Department of Children and Families allow us to competently advise adoptive parents at any stage of the case, and many times we can help bring about a positive outcome.


If a child entered the United States legally (with inspection) and, while here in the U.S., gets validly adopted by a U.S. citizen before that child's 16th birthday, in most cases the child will receive his/her "Green Card" (Legal Permanent Residency), two years after the adoption is finalized. Immediately thereafter, the child will receive full U.S. citizenship, even if the child was "Out of Status" when the adoption was completed. While each case must be discussed relative to its own facts, this option affords many foreign born children the opportunity to stay in the United States and attend school when other immigration channels cannot provide this to the child.

Ms. Strowbridge will work in conjunction with your immigration attorney to help the child qualify for the desired immigration status.


Each State has a comprehensive adoption code that governs every aspect of adoptions occurring within that State, including relevant time frames, required documents, legal processing, etc. As long as both the birth
parent(s) and adoptive parent(s) reside in the same state, compliance with the statute is relatively straight forward and uncomplicated.

When the birth parent(s) reside in a different state from the adoptive
parent(s), the compliance issues can rapidly become far more difficult. Each State belongs to the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC) in order to insure that, sometimes incompatible state laws are coordinated in a manner that insures consistency and respect for the best interests of the child. ICPC processing is a level of bureaucratic compliance that requires sophisticated experience and knowledge in this particular area of law.

If it is handled correctly, adoptive parents can expect to receive clearance to return home with their child within two weeks of application and their adoption should finalize smoothly thereafter. If it is not handled correctly, adoptive parents can be prohibited from returning home with their child for extended periods of time and finalization of their adoption may be blocked permanently.

Patricia Strowbridge, P.A. routinely handles interstate cases and has a great deal of experience in working with the complex issues.